My response on the foxnews blog post where he dribbled his drivel was thusly:

Making the argument that European taxes are higher and thus validates our tax rate is nonsensical.

This is akin to the argument that says “It is ok to beat your children!”…. “Why?”… “Well, because it could be worse… it could be like some countries that allow 8 year old girls to be married to 58 year old perverts.”

Pointing to an example that is worse than the topic at hand is not a valid argument.

Showing gratitude or patriotism have nothing to do with my willingness to pay higher taxes in the face of waste.

At last….common sense prevails!!! It will be interesting to see how many posters have valid counter arguments as opposed to snarky posts filled with name calling because they realize they don’t have a valid counter argument.

And Lemur King, other than your strange objection to him pointing out the tax rates for other industrialized nations, I am curious to know what valid dispute you have with the rest of the article.

His remark about common sense was in regards to Colme’s article, not my witty stuff. Damn. I do have to agree with that commenter on one thing – way too many comments were filled with hate and no rational counterpoints.

My dispute with the rest of Colme’s article comes under several headings.

One – Colme’s skirting the ragged edge of ad hominem… “bitter election losers, while clinging to their guns by buying them in greater numbers” He’s got enough talent to not need to do that. I do it because I’m a blogger and talk trash mostly out of the spotlight. He’s bigger time than that.

Two – it ignores the 10th Amendment. The government ought not be assuming so very many powers. The government was set up so that we had support for commerce, military defense, common currency, etc. Congress has turned themselves into a body that is quite a bit more powerful than states are supposed to be.

Most power is supposed to reside in the states. The flip side is that if the power is in the states, then the fed does not have the power to run so many federal-level offices.

Three – Federal taxation is wrong in that it turns the Federal to State tax ratio on end. They should be swapped. If I pay the lion’s share of my taxes to my state I have control over where it goes because I and every other voter in my state know right where to find those who are doing what they are elected to do. Move the money/taxes/power a distance away, remove access, and create a complex system (an elected aristocracy that the electorate cannot reach), and you will have pork-barrel policies and little way to influence anything. I have no control whatsoever over anyone other than my personal representatives who will be stacked up agains representatives from entirely different states … the odds are quite high that any legislation is going to have very little to do with things that are important to me or get it right. Face it… from Michigan, do I care if Arizona is awarded $3M to study shrimp farming?

Texas Gov. Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall — one of three tea parties he was attending across the state — that officials in Washington have abandoned the country’s founding principles of limited government. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt.

Frankly, I don’t mind a 25% tax all that much – if I have some say over where it is going – in my state. Why should my taxes go to help New Orleans, California Fires, and Flooding in the Midwest? Texas Governor Perry has it right.

Colmes smirks:

Another argument we hear when there is talk of tax dollars being used for items like national health care, alternative energy development, or improving our public education system is that the government can’t do anything right, that it can’t run anything, that in every instance private is always better.

Social Security is the best argument for killing sweeping social programs – it can’t remain solvent and is being tapped for any and all purposes “deemed necessary” along the way. National Healthcare is a pipe dream – a boondoggle of paperwork and red-tape so unpersonalized and so abstract that it ceases to be about people anymore. Our public school systems are trashed – get rid of bloated teacher’s unions and give merit-based pay.

The only place The Fed ought to be given total precedence over private is the military. Private sector has no business being in the business of running mercenary companies.

My Personal “Things” – Don’t Peek

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